QPR vs Wycombe: A Friendly Built to Test Two Very Different Identities

QPR and Wycombe Wanderers meet behind closed doors at the TSG Training Centre on Tuesday afternoon as both clubs continue their pre-season buildup, per Sports Mole. This fixture is less about who has the better squad and more about which identity wins out.

QPR finished 15th in the Championship last season under Julien Stéphan, a campaign that ended with six winless games, and have opened this pre-season with a draw against First Vienna and a 3-1 win over Wiener Neustadt, Sports Mole reports. Stéphan has brought in Calum Ward, Boy Kemper and Pierce Charles while losing Sam Field, Isaac Hayden and Steve Cook.

Wycombe, under Michael Duff, have played just once so far, but it was emphatic: a 4-0 win over Ebbsfleet United with goals from Micah Olabiyi, Bradley Fink, Jamie Mullins and Ewan Henderson, according to the same preview. Duff's side missed out on the League One playoffs last season and will be using games like this to rebuild momentum.

QPR should have the better technical players and more of the ball. But plenty of Championship sides have found League One opposition uncomfortable in these games precisely because physicality and directness don't care about the gap in league status.

If QPR move the ball early and quickly, they expose the gap in quality. If Wycombe drag this into a physical, direct contest, it becomes a far more even afternoon than the league table suggests it should be.